Leveraging Maritime Automation for Efficient and Sustainable Port Maintenance

Abstract

Maritime traffic is undergoing a transformation from on-board navigation towards highly automated, remotely controlled operations. Given the constrained and well-defined area of operation, port maintenance is a predestined use case for a highly automated vessel. In combination with alternative driving systems, maritime automation technologies hold a great potential of increasing efficiency and sustainability in port maintenance. To achieve this goal, this paper describes the concept of a highly automated hopper-dredger for port maintenance, proposing assistance systems for navigation in different automation stages according to the definition of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Commercial off-the-shelf technologies are employed to realize assistance systems, transferring also solutions to the maritime environment that are already established in other industrial domains. A method for Verification and Validation of the proposed concept is presented and applied in sea trials with a research vessel. Regulatory aspects are considered as well. The study concludes that a remotely operated dredger can be realized based on State-of-the-Art sensor systems, enabling sustainable, efficient and cost-saving port maintenance. Based on the presented results, clear recommendations are derived for automation concepts and suitable technologies at different IMO automation level. The need for a legal framework to utilize the potential of the proposed concept in regular operations is pointed out.